Michael Tolkin — Playwright (12)
The New Age (1994) [Movie] Douban
The New Age
director: 迈克尔·托尔金 actor: 彼得·威勒 / 朱迪·戴维斯
other title: 鸳鸯新世纪 / 新世纪
Peter and Katherine Witner are Southern California super-yuppies with great jobs but no center to their lives. When they both lose their jobs and begin marital infidelities, their solution is to start their own business together. In order to find meaning to their empty lives, they follow various New Age gurus and other such groups. Eventually, they hit rock bottom and have make some hard decisions.
Deep Cover (1992) [Movie] Douban TMDB WikiData IMDb
Deep Cover
other title: 卧龙战警 / 딥 커버
Having witnessed his junkie father killed Russell Stevens grows up to become a policeman and make a difference. When he is offered an undercover job by Gerald Carver he accepts and begins to build a relationship with David Jason in order to get to the main dealers. However as he is forced to deal drugs and kill to keep his cover he finds the lines between cop and criminal being lost – is he a cop pretending to be a dealer or a dealer pretending to be a cop?
Larry (as he was then) Fishburne's first lead role was a typically dark vehicle. The story is the usual one of cop losing himself when undercover, however it manages to be more than that for most of the time. Co-written by Tolkin, who wrote The Player, this naturally has a nice cynical edge to it when it looks at the US's hypocritical approach to drug control and the political links between the street hustlers and the political high rollers who court respectability. The story does eventually settle into a traditional setting but even then it works well as a thriller.
The multi-talented Bill Duke directs well with a gritty feel and a few nice touches. However several things are a bit iffy. For most of the film Fishburne's narration/voice over is a bit like a cross between Apocalypse Now and Blade Runner – it comes across as a little too dark and heavy and also explains things like we can't figure it out ourselves. However once you get into the film it's not as big a deal. My main problem lies with the characters.
Fishburne is excellent, a real model of underlying anger and violence, Goldblum is good but perhaps a little OTT on the yuppie/violence thing, but there's good support from Smith and Spin City's beautiful (and often underused – but not here) Victoria Dillard. However the two main white characters (Goldblum and Smith) are both smeared with racist insinuations – Smith appears to insult his black officers and doesn't care about the junkies, while Goldblum is fascinated about all things black and talks about them as wild beautiful beasts and loves having sex with "black'. These things aren't a major problem, but with basically only two white characters in it, it's a little worrying that both are given that edge.
However these are minor complaints that get lost with a good thriller. Fishburne excels and Duke delivers a story that is a good thriller but also has a jaded, subversive edge.
The Burning Season (1994) [Movie] Douban TMDB IMDb WikiData
The Burning Season
director: 约翰·弗兰克海默 actor: 劳尔·朱利安
other title: 燃烧的季节 / Flammen des Widerstandes
Based on the true story of a Brazilian rubber tapper who leads his people in protest against government and developers, who want to cut down their part of the rainforest for a new road and ranch land. The rich and the powerful will stop at nothing, and frequently resort to murder
Gleaming the Cube (1989) [Movie] Douban TMDB IMDb WikiData
Gleaming the Cube
director: 格雷姆·克利福德 actor: 克里斯蒂安·史莱特 / 马克斯·佩利希
other title: 滑出彩虹 / 危险之至
An Orange County teenager's carefree life of ditching class and skateboarding abandoned pools comes to a screeching halt when someone close to him dies. The cops rule the death a suicide, but the bereaved skater believes he was murdered. It's up to him to solve the case, with a skateboard.
Changing Lanes (2002) [Movie] Douban WikiData IMDb TMDB
Changing Lanes
6.4 (16 ratings) director: Roger Michell actor: 班·艾佛列克 / 山繆·傑克森
other title: 变线人生 / 连锁导火线
A rush-hour fender-bender on New York City's crowded FDR Drive, under most circumstances, wouldn't set off a chain reaction that could decimate two people's lives. But on this day, at this time, a minor collision will turn two complete strangers into vicious adversaries. Their means of destroying each other might be different, but their goals, ultimately, will be the same: Each will systematically try to dismantle the other's life in a reckless effort to reclaim something he has lost.
Nine (2009) [Movie] Douban IMDb WikiData TMDB
Nine
6.5 (96 ratings) director: 罗伯·马歇尔 actor: 丹尼尔·戴-刘易斯 / 玛丽昂·歌迪亚
other title: / 华丽年代
Arrogant, self-centered movie director Guido Contini finds himself struggling to find meaning, purpose, and a script for his latest film endeavor. With only a week left before shooting begins, he desperately searches for answers and inspiration from his wife, his mistress, his muse, and his mother.
Escape at Clinton Correctional (2018) [TV] Douban
Escape at Dannemora
7.8 (17 ratings) director: 本·斯蒂勒 actor: 帕特丽夏·阿奎特 / 本尼西奥·德尔·托罗
Showtime 8小时迷你剧《逃离丹尼莫拉 Escape At Dannemora》(前名《Clinton Correctional》)由Ben Stiller执导及当执行制片,现定于美国时间11月18日首播。
《逃离丹尼莫拉》是根据现实事件所改篇,在2015年时纽约的高强度保安监狱Clinton Correction Facility发生了首宗越狱案,两名被定罪的杀人犯在一名女性监狱职员的协助下成功逃狱。(其中一位杀人犯追求此职员,并指称有肉体关系)
Benicio del Toro饰演被定罪的杀人犯Richard Matt,他在监狱中是股艺术及恐怖兼备的势力,主宰了这次越狱。Paul Dano饰演David Sweat,他是另一个被定罪的杀警凶手,他以自己的好样子诱惑了Tilly。Patricia Arquette饰演Tilly Mitchell,一个工人阶段的已婚女性,在监狱中负责裁缝训练;她被两个犯人所诱惑并发生关系,让她成了越狱的帮凶。
在现实中,Richard Matt于三周后被警员开枪击毙,后来David Sweat在加拿大边界中枪落网。